In access control systems, cards or RFID devices are typically used to store data that “uniquely” identifies the device holder or cardholder. To gain access to a resource or asset such as a building, a financial account, information, or a computer, a user presents the card to a “reader” that reads the data and subsequently transmits the read data to an upstream device such as a panel or a host system. At the upstream device a decision is typically made to either grant access to the cardholder or not. There are also readers that combine the functionality of a panel/host and the physical reader into a single unit, which makes the decision. These types of devices are sometimes referred to as stand-alone readers.
Over the years, several different card technologies have been utilized as a machine-readable credential including RFID, magnetic stripe, barium ferrite, optical, bar codes, and others. RFID has displaced most of these technologies and has emerged as the access technology of choice for many reasons including convenience, ability to design a vandal and weather resistant reader, ever-increasing data storage capabilities, and generally higher security. Indeed, electronic access control systems have been incorporating RFID transponders, typically packaged into the convenient form factor of a card, for more than two decades. As used herein, the term card shall mean all kinds of RFID user device, including proximity cards, contactless smart cards, key fobs, near field communication (NFC) enabled PDAs or cellular phones, or any other substrate equipped with an RFID transponder including coins, adhesive labels, and not just devices in a card like format.
Today, a whole new generation of RFID transponders is available offering similar technological advancements. This next generation of devices contains more memory, communicates faster, provides greater security, and costs approximately the same or even less than the previously available technology. Additionally, unlike the previous generations, international standardization of RFID technology implies increasing interoperability among both cards and readers from different manufacturers. This, coupled with the increased security and storage capacities of today's RFID cards, allows a single card to contain multiple applications further increasing user convenience. Moreover, because of the increased security and storage capacities of today's RFID technology, governments and their institutions are mandating their use to replace older less secure identity management technologies. Due to these factors and more, widespread adoption of newer RFID technologies is occurring at an ever-increasing rate.
Since RFID card technology is a mature, reliable, convenient, cost-effective, and popular technology, there is a large installed base of cards and their associated readers using older technology. As new RFID technology is introduced, upgrading every card can be a difficult, time consuming, and costly process. Similarly, the replacement of readers can be a costly and time-consuming process. Thus, it is highly desirable to implement a technology upgrade solution that minimizes the costs and time required to upgrade a system. Alternatively, it may be desirable to implement a technology upgrade solution that can provide for a step-wise implementation of upgrade rather than requiring a total upgrade all at once.
Several approaches of migrating to the newer technologies are available, each with a unique set of advantages and shortcomings. Ultimately the best solution will be one that fits the dynamics of a particular site. In fact combinations of several methods may be employed depending upon the circumstances. Accordingly, a need exists for flexibility in adopting and implementing upgraded technologies
In general, there are three basic approaches to upgrading a system. The first approach is to replace all of the readers and cards. The second approach is to utilize cards with both the current and the new technology. The third approach is to utilize readers that can read both existing and new technology cards. Replacing all existing cards and readers is typically the most disruptive and expensive approach of the three choices.
The method of replacing all RFID cards with a card that contains both the existing RFID technology and the new technology also his its downsides. One downside to this particular approach is that the number of existing RFID cards within an overall system is typically much larger than the number of readers. Therefore, the replacement of the entire population of cards may be a waste of resources if, alternatively, only a few readers existed within the system.
Recently some studies have been conducted relating to the costs of re-badging, i.e., replacing existing cards, versus replacing readers. The conclusion of the study indicated that the replacement or upgrade of readers with a new reader that can communicate with both older RFID devices and newer RFID devices is a viable approach that often is less costly and less disruptive than re-badging all users of a secure access system.